BDS Study launched in Honduras
Earlier this year, the AMEA Local Network in Honduras commissioned a study to assess the current state of Business Development Services (BDS) and the potential opportunities to leverage effectiveness, sustainability, and scalability in the BDS market.
In June 2022, Rikolto and AMEA organised an initial feedback workshop to allow AMEA members and key partners to contribute to the findings of the study. After several rounds of feedback, a final report was completed in September 2022.
RESULTS OF THE STUDY
The process revealed that mainstream interventions in Honduras are still focused on value chain enhancement and technical advisory services rather than BDS. Starting with an historic overview of institutional reforms leading to the current state of services provision, the report shows a trend of well intended policy proposals that do not lead to concrete results (linked to budget constraints). The final report presents significant progress in outlining different categories of stakeholders in the BDS ecosystem and how they can potentially contribute to systemic transformation in agribusiness.
The findings of the report reinforce the importance of the work AMEA and the Honduran National Standards Bureau (OHN) are doing to promote the international guidelines for professional farmer organisations (IWA29). The IWA29 provides a voluntary normative framework that guides quality BDS provision.
The report was launched on Thursday October 27th, with representatives from various local organisations, government, and private sector. Participants engaged in group discussions which provided significant inputs for the AMEA Local Network’s development of a BDS roadmap for Honduras (2023). Going forward, the AMEA Local Network and its partners will lobby for support for the BDS roadmap, beginning with the Honduran Ministries of Agriculture, Science and Technology and Economic Development.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT HERE (SPANISH)
